The Descendants of Hugh DIXSON circa 1790.

18. Hugh DIXSON [18250] (Hugh (Sir)⁴, Hugh², Hugh¹) was born in 1868 in Sydney Colony of New South Wales and died in 1904 in Sydney NSW Australia at age 36.

General Notes: NSWB
1255/1868 DIXSON HUGH HUGH EMMA E SYDNEY

marr
2203/1891 DIXSON HUGH FITZMAURICE ALICE ASHFIELD

29317/1892 DIXSON HUGH F HUGH ALICE PETERSHAM

death 12114/1894 DIXSON CRAIG HUGH HELEN RYDE

death 202/1904 DIXSON HUGH HUGH EMMA E SYDNEY

just become the first full-time officer of the BUNSW unless those in places of influence and authority approve and support you. There were at least 3 prominent business families within the Union.

The Hugh Dixson family. Later to become Sir Hugh in recognition of his philantrophic service in Australia, particularly RPA Hospital, he was a millionaire tobacco manufacturer, and a founding member of the Petersham Baptist Church.

The Buckingham family. William Buckingham owned a large departmental store in Sydney, and was a wealthy and successful businessman. The family worshipped at Stanmore in Sydney.

The White family. William White founded a successful bakery business in Sydney, and the family also attended the Stanmore Baptist church. Some of the White family came to live in Canberra in Dr Waldock’s time, and is still represented in the church by Don White.

All 3 families were strong supporters of Waldock and the Home Mission Society. In fact there was

WASHINGTON H. SOUL PATTINSON
AND COMPANY LIMITED
Caleb Soul, an Englishman, came to Sydney in 1863, having spent some years working in the drug industry in both England and U.S.A. He took a job with Colonial Sugar Refinery and later Tucker & Company in the Newcastle area of New South Wales, as a commercial traveller.

He then opened his own wine and spirit business at Morpeth on the Hunter River, together with his son, Washington. They also conducted a mining broking business.

Whilst in business at Morpeth, Caleb Soul was instrumental in establishing the first building society in Australia.

He quickly realised the opportunity for a retail chemist to import his own drugs and patent medicines direct from the United Kingdom and the U.S.A. Practically everything in the pharmaceutical field in those days was imported by wholesalers and retail prices were very high.

In 1872 he opened a pharmacy at 177 Pitt Street Sydney, advertising "all goods sold at New York and London prices". The venture was an immediate success. Because he believed his son's name sounded more honest than his own, he traded as Washington H. Soul.

He moved to 158-160 Pitt Street, the present head office of the Company and included a large soda fountain and milk bar, the first in Australia and modelled on American drug stores. He also opened a separate Ladies Department under the control of a trained nurse, another first in Australia and an immediate success. The milk bar and soda fountain soon became one of the social scenes of Sydney. Table service was provided to a number of marble topped tables, together with straight-backed chairs.

One of the favourite drinks sold by the milk bar was Soul’s Spartan Tonic, which largely consisted of alcohol plus a number of essential minerals and salts. Many well known teetotallers regularly patronised Soul’s milk bar for a mid-morning or pre-lunch Spartan Tonic.

Soul commenced manufacturing from the beginning and a number of his own lines were a great success. Soyer’s baking powder soon became a national seller. He used the recipe which was published by the prominent French Chef Soyer who was also the inventor of Soyer’s field cookers which revolutionised the feeding of armies in the 19th century.

The next most successful line was Soul’s Australian relish. Other well known lines were Spartan Tonic, Dr. Thompson’s Coltsfoot Linctus, Bumsteads Sarsaparilla, Sir Benjamin Brodie’s Gout and Rheumatic Cure, Dr. Jones’ Corn and Wart Cure, Dr. Erasmus Wilson’s Heart Tonic, Clayton’s Kidney and Bladder Pills, Dr. Richardson’s Hair Restorer and many others.

In those days it was not uncommon for newspapers to publish the prescriptions of well known physicians and for manufacturers to use those formulas and name them after the doctors concerned.

In 1886 the premises at 160 Pitt Street were burnt down and Soul built the present building which was called the Phoenix building with a phoenix on top of the front facade, being the phoenix rising from the ashes.

Lewy Myall Pattinson, who was an engineer in the family foundry business at Hexham, Northumberland, England, decided that steel was going to take over from cast iron, and joined his elder brother William who was an apothecary. The foundry at Hexham which in those days was called Pattinson and Davison, was well known for its quality products, and exported prefabricated bridges, steelware for building, etc. to many parts of the world, particularly to the British colonies. The components, numbered together with detailed plans, could be erected by unskilled labour, either being bolted or riveted together, depending on the skill of the labour available. The foundry later passed through some very hard times. Today the company still operates as Davidson Lyne Metal Ltd.

Lewy Pattinson joined his brother, William in a pharmacy business at Corbridge, Northumberland, England. Lewy read about the success of Soul in Australia and in 1881 came to Australia and New Zealand to appraise the situation. He spent quite some time in Sydney, working as an engineer, and was offered a partnership by the firm for whom he was working.

Lewy Pattinson made himself known to Caleb Soul and decided there were good opportunities for a business run on similar lines, went back to England, married, and brought his wife out in 1886, and opened a pharmacy at Balmain. Like Soul he imported all of his drugs and patent medicines, and ran his business along similar lines to Soul's.

The two men became friends and never opened in direct opposition to one another.

William Morris Hughes, affectionately known as "Billy", later to become the famous World War I Australian Prime Minister, worked for Lewy Pattinson as an odd job man in the Balmain pharmacy.

Lewy Pattinson had an extensive library and used to lend books to Hughes and guide and encourage him in his reading. Hughes, who had very little formal education, said on a number of occasions he owed a great deal of his success to Pattinson’s guidance and encouragement during his Balmain days.

Hughes visited Lewy Pattinson regularly up to the time of the latter’s death. They always addressed one another as Billy and Mr. Pattinson.

Pattinson & Co. purchased the Redfern and North Sydney pharmacies of Richard Alliband. Alliband continued as manager for some years and he and his sister Sophia became close, life long friends of Lewy Pattinson and his wife.

Pattinson & Co. expanded rapidly and about 1890 William Pattinson came out to Australia and joined Lewy.

Like Soul, Lewy Pattinson quickly established his own warehouse and laboratories. Two of the very successful patent lines were Dr. Scott’s Compound of Glycerine and Linseed and Thorburn Ointment which rapidly became national sellers. Scott’s Compound is one of the few cough mixtures which has stood the test of time and still is available.

Another great success was Dr. McKenzie’s Influenza Mixture. Dr. McKenzie was a physician to Queen Victoria, and ironically, he was to die of influenza.

Pattinson’s Tonic was another very successful line, together with Howard’s Zono English Aspirin, Nadys Complexion Cream, Ziris Perfumes and Cosmetics, Pattinson™s Bitter Apple, Bay Rum and Cantharades which was very effective for dandruff, and many others.

About the middle of 1890s John Spence, a pharmacist from Newcastle, Northumberland, England came out to Sydney and, having heard of Pattinson™s went into the Oxford Street shop which was then managed by William Pattinson, and introduced himself. William invited him home to dinner and, together with Lewy, the three became great friends. John Spence was later invited to join the partnership which he did.

Pattinson & Company’s main shop and headquarters were at Kidman’s corner, the corner of George and Market Streets, where the Commonwealth Bank now stands.

Lewy Pattinson used to ride around the shops in the morning, arriving at head office about lunchtime, and in those days used to tether his horse outside. One day in the 1890s, on arriving at head office, he found the whole block had been boarded up. There had been an outbreak of bubonic plague in Sydney. Washington Soul, Caleb’s son, was waiting for him and said "Mr. Pattinson, I have taken the liberty of moving your head office to our head office at 160 Pitt Street, Sydney. Please continue to use it until you are allowed back into your own premises".

Washington Soul had no sons and approached his old friend, Lewy Pattinson, and asked if Pattinson & Company would buy him out. Pattinson agreed and after discussion with his partners, Pattinson & Company bought out W.H. Soul, effective from 1st April 1902. At this point in time Pattinson & Company had 16 shops, together with their own warehouse and factory at Camperdown. Pattinson & Company shops were at Balmain, Oxford Street, Newtown, George Street, Paddington, Haymarket, Liverpool Street, Redfern, Glebe, Brickfield Hill, Leichhardt, Bondi, George Street North, Victoria Markets, Circular Quay and North Sydney.

Pattinson & Company also owned their own glass company and manufactured all their own bottles.

Washington H. Soul, in addition to their warehouse and factory, had shops at 160 Pitt Street, Parramatta, Newcastle, Cessnock, and Lithgow.

As part of the purchase consideration Washington H. Soul took a ?30,000 mortgage over 160 Pitt Street. Australia was beginning to emerge from the bad depression of the 1890s and Lewy Pattinson’s partners were nervous about the size of the mortgage. It was decided to form a public company and offer shares to the public.

Lewy Pattinson wished to offer these as preference shares with the partners retaining all the ordinary capital. His two partners, William Pattinson and John Spence, preferred to offer ordinary shares, feeling the preference shares would be a financial burden if times got tough again.

In December 1902, 33,500 ordinary shares of ?1 each were offered to the public with Sydney stockbrokers, Mullens & Company as broker to the issue.

There had been considerable delay because Lewy Pattinson was meticulous as to whom should be made directors and felt strongly it was important to get well known directors on the board. Lewy Pattinson was hard to please. Hugh Dixson, a prominent businessman, agreed to become a director and took 10,000 shares. His father was the founder of the successful Dixson & Sons Tobacco Co. He later became Sir Hugh Dixson and was the grandfather of Hugh Dixson.

After unsuccessfully submitting many other names to Lewy Pattinson, A.J. Brierley of Kent Brierley and Sully, Accountants for the company, eventually said one day: "Well, if I go to the Premier of New South Wales and the Lord Mayor of Sydney, would that satisfy you?" Lewy said: "Yes, of course it would". "Well" said Brierley "I have got them. Sir John See, Premier of New South Wales and the Lord Mayor of Sydney, Mr. Thomas Hughes (later to become Sir Thomas Hughes) have agreed to join the board".

The public company float went ahead and Wildcat Column in the "Bulletin" commented: "To date this has been a very successful business but what do Sir John See, The Right Hon. Thomas Hughes and Mr. Hugh Dixson know about the price of ipecacuanha?"

Out of respect for his old friend, Lewy Pattinson included the name of Washington H. Soul in the name of the new company, Washington H. Soul Pattinson & Co. Ltd. which was incorporated on 21st January, 1903.

Lewy Pattinson, William Pattinson and John Spence were appointed joint managing directors for seven years at a salary of ?500 per year. They received capital in the new company of ?106,500 and agreed to hold at least 20,000 shares each in their names for three years. Sir John See was appointed Chairman of Directors.

In the early 1900s there was a run on some of the local banks. Lewy Pattinson arrived at 160 Pitt Street one lunchtime after inspecting branches, to be greeted by his brother William, and John Spence who had both withdrawn all their money from the bank. The money in sovereigns was in canvas bags which were lined up on the floor of the boardroom. Lewy hurriedly wrote a cheque for what he thought was his bank balance and despatched a messenger to withdraw the same. A note came back from the bank manager: "Dear Mr. Pattinson, apparently the bank has more confidence in you than you have in the bank. Your account is overdrawn".

About 1903 a pharmacy was purchased at Annandale with takings of approximately ?2 per week. John Spence Jnr. was appointed its first manager and in his first week took over ?3 and in the second week over ?7. He said that in those days from the front of the shop he looked down over paddocks and market gardens to Botany Bay.

Sir John See died in 1906 and Sir Thomas Hughes was appointed Chairman.

A freehold site for a pharmacy at Maitland was personally selected by Lewy Pattinson. Being very conscious of the damage caused by the periodic flooding of Maitland, he selected the highest point in the main shopping area of the town. In subsequent floods the Soul Pattinson pharmacy was one of the very few premises in Maitland the floodwater has not entered.

The world famous cosmetic firm of Helena Rubenstein had its origins when a young lady, Regena Rubenstein, the founder, rented an upstairs room at 160 Pitt Street.

The dispensary used to make up her creams and lotions and after adding her own "secret" ingredients, she used to pack and label them. The cosmetic department of the shop sold them on commission.

One of her best known lines was Dew from the Carpathian Mountains. According to the label, it was collected in the early morning by a sponge from special local herbs.

In 1904 William Pattinson retired to the Isle of Man.

In 1916 Washington H. Soul Pattinson & Co. Ltd. built a new modern warehouse and factory at Wentworth Avenue, Sydney. It remained as the warehouse until 1960 when it was sold after a new factory and warehouse was acquired at Kingsgrove.

In 1920 Dr. William Frederick Pattinson, son of Lewy Pattinson, having returned from the war, was persuaded by his father to join the business. He was put in charge of the shops and John Spence Jnr. in charge of the warehouse and factory.

Washington H. Soul Pattinson & Co. Ltd. expanded very rapidly on the retail side under the very energetic management of Dr. Pattinson. He was ably supported on the wholesale and manufacturing side by John Spence and William Hatcher, the warehouse manager.

In those days all raw drugs, together with most gift lines, were imported. The firm was particularly successful with its gift lines. Washington H. Soul Pattinson & Co. Ltd. were the first people, in Australia to import and sell compacts which in those days were known as flapjacks.

Rapid expansion continued until 1936, many new shops being opened, particularly in outer suburbs. A number of these shops were opened as share shops where the manager put in a percentage of the capital and had a corresponding share in the business. Almost without exception the company owned the freehold property of practically every outlet.

About 1921 Ken Mulholland was put in charge of the Newcastle shops. He had served two years of his apprenticeship before the war and completed his apprenticeship and examinations post war. The Newcastle shops improved dramatically under Mulholland and they were formed into a separate company called Soul Pattinson (Newcastle) Pty. Ltd. and Mulholland was appointed Managing Director.

It was decided to purchase premises in the main shopping area of Hunter Street, Newcastle. Dr. Pattinson, John Spence and Percy Gordon of Morrow & Gordon, Architects, were sent up to Newcastle to try to negotiate a deal. Lewy Pattinson got Percy Gordon to one side and told him "not to let the young fellows do anything silly". Percy Gordon used to frequently tell this story, saying that both W.F. Pattinson and John Spence had far more business experience than he had as an architect. A suitable property was purchased and the Hunter Street shop was opened.

In 1928 John Spence Snr. died and Dr. Pattinson and John Spence Jnr. were made joint managing directors. Dr. Pattinson had responsibility for the shops and John Spence had the warehouse and factory.

In 1929 Sir Thomas Hughes resigned from the board and Lewy Pattinson became chairman.

In 1936 the Premier of New South Wales, Mr. Bevin, returned from an overseas trip and announced he had attracted several million pounds capital to the State of New South Wales. He then announced it was Boots the Chemist, England, who was the interested party.

Boots had opened several shops in New Zealand. The New Zealand private chemists were very apprehensive about their ability to compete with Boots. A delegation from the New Zealand Pharmaceutical Guild came to Sydney and approached the Washington H. Soul Pattinson management, asking for the firm to manage all New Zealand Guild shops in New Zealand for a management fee. After lengthy discussion the Soul Pattinson board declined the offer. They felt that due to geographical difficulties and the probable reluctance of many private chemists to adhere to a set plan, the scheme was not practicable.

Three Boots directors arrived in Sydney and approached Washington H. Soul Pattinson & Co. Ltd., saying that they intended to open in Australia. As the Washington H. Soul Pattinson & Co. Ltd. group was very well established Boots did not want to compete with it and suggested forming a new company - Boots Australia Ltd., with Soul Pattinson putting in its existing business at independent valuation and Boots matching this figure with cash, the new company to be known as Boots Australia Ltd, with 50% shareholding by Soul Pattinson and 50% by Boots, England, and to be managed by the then present Soul Pattinson executive.

This course of action was agreed upon by both parties. The Pharmaceutical Guild, however, guided and organised by the well known businessman and accountant, Leslie Thompson, lobbied individual members of Parliament, predicting that this company, Boots Australia Ltd. would put a lot of private chemists out of business.

The Government appointed a chain store inquiry to investigate the matter. The inquiry lasted for some three years and the final finding when handed down was that if Boots opened in New South Wales it would be of benefit to the public. In spite of the finding and in spite of the fact that Boots had been invited to open in New South Wales, the government introduced legislation in 1940 prohibiting any new pharmacy company from starting in New South Wales and pegging existing company pharmacies to the number of shops in operation at that time. In addition, an existing shop could only be moved within a five mile radius.

The only two companies of any size were Washington H. Soul Pattinson & Co. Ltd. who at that stage had 42 shops and Hallams Ltd. who had 13 shops. Hallams was later taken over by Drug Houses of Australia Ltd. and in the early 1960s the company had fallen on bad times and was liquidated and some of the shops sold to private chemists, a few of them continuing to trade under the Hallam name.

The Pharmacy Act prohibited further expansion, putting a stop to the company’s rapid growth, and for the next fifteen years there was virtually no expansion of business on the pharmacy side except for renovating existing shops.

In 1944 Lewy Pattinson died at the age of 96. He came into the office up to the day before his death.

John Spence was appointed Chairman. W.G. Fisher, the senior partner of Kent, Brierley & Fisher, the company’s auditors was invited to join the board.

In 1950 James Sinclair Millner, grandson of Lewy Myall Pattinson, was appointed General Manager. He had joined the A.I.F. at the end of his second year apprenticeship and completed his course six years after his war service, in 1947.

John Spence retired as director in 1957 due to illness. During the whole of his working life in the firm he was known affectionately as Young John Spence. Dr. W.F. Pattinson was appointed as Chairman and J.S. Millner was appointed as a director.

Just prior to the 1939 war, Dr. Pattinson started a shop modernisation programme and this was resumed and pushed with great vigour during the 1950s. With the post war rapid increase in population in Australia and the shift of shopping from the inner city to the outer suburbs, the limitation on moving shops became a very severe financial burden on the company. Many of the inner city shops such as Redfern, Glebe, Haymarket, Paddington and Pitt Street South became uneconomical and it was not possible within the five mile radius, to move to any of the new suburbs.

The company sought top legal advice and tried "leap frogging". For example Glebe was moved to Burwood and Burwood was moved to West Ryde. The Pharmacy board challenged this in the Courts and the company lost the case.

Around 1958, after many representations, the company was able to persuade the New South Wales Government to enable shops to be moved within a ten mile radius.

In 1960 a property was purchased at Kingsgrove from Kingsgrove Laboratories and the warehouse and factory transferred from Wentworth Avenue into these new modern premises. Wentworth Avenue, with its nine storeys had rapidly become less economical with all goods having to be handled several times.

From the early days of the war until 1960 resale price maintenance operated throughout Australia. Manufacturers fixed the price of their product and refused to supply any retailer who cut the price, so prices were the same in all retail outlets for all patent medicines and toiletry lines. A number of large manufacturers, principally Reckitt & Colman, Bristol Myers, Parke Davis and Burroughs Wellcome restricted all of their lines to pharmacy only.

In 1961 one or two of the larger manufacturers, amongst them Bristol Myers, ceased their policy of resale price maintenance. Bristol Myers manufactured Ipana toothpaste, the second largest selling toothpaste in Australia. Ipana was a chemist only line, and its loss to pharmacy was catastrophic. Similar lines immediately moved into the supermarkets and variety chain stores at cut prices. This trend accelerated rapidly during the next two years and Washington H. Soul Pattinson & Co. Ltd. and the rest of pharmacy were faced with a major crisis.

J.S. Millner persuaded the Board that the only thing to do was to fight back and under cut the supermarkets and chain stores. Using wire baskets placed at the front of the shop two or three "specials" were sold at the lowest prices available to the public. This technique was very successful and after a downturn in profit in 1963 the Company’s business once again became highly profitable.

The Pharmacy Guild adopted and strongly recommended an entirely different approach to the problem.

Their solution was for chemists to boycott and refuse to stock lines which were being cut in price. Soul Pattinson and J.S. Millner personally were attacked publicly by the President of the Guild who used some rather intemperate language. Millner issued writs for substantial damages against the President of the Guild. These legal proceedings eventually were settled out of Court, Soul Pattinson receiving costs and a public apology.

By the mid 1960s all of the "Chemist Only" lines were freely available to all outlets and prices were being cut. Some manufacturers who had lines which contained poisons which restricted them to pharmacy only, removed the poisons from these lines so that they could be sold by supermarkets and chain stores.

Resale price maintenance was later made illegal by government legislation.

A group of private pharmacists persuaded the then Minister for Health to introduce regulations prohibiting pharmacy from advertising and even restricting the size of lettering on any pharmacy to a few inches in height.

Washington H. Soul Pattinson & Co. Ltd. protested vigorously to the Government and was joined by a lot of other private pharmacies. The Government proposal attracted considerable publicity and the company mounted an aggressive campaign against these regulations and was supported by a sympathetic press.

Washington H. Soul Pattinson & Co. Ltd. pointed out that company pharmacy meant lower prices for the public and produced a hard hitting booklet call "You Pay Too Much For Drugs". This publication was widely distributed and attracted a lot of attention.

The regulations were withdrawn and the New South Wales Government amended the Pharmacy Act to allow the company to move its existing shops freely within the Counties of Cumberland, Northumberland and Illawarra.

Following this legislation a number of less profitable inner city shops were closed down and branches opened at Fairfield, Liverpool, Wollongong and other outlying suburbs.

To bring Souls lower prices to as many homes as possible, Soul Pattinson appointed the leading pharmacy in a suburb or a country town as an agent for Souls Own Brand Products. There are now over 230 agents for Soul's products throughout Australia.

In addition to its pharmaceutical activities Soul Pattinson had been very successful investors, not only in shares, but also in property. With the imposition of Land Tax in the early 1950s Dr. Pattinson decided it would be better to sell surplus properties not being used by the company and invest the proceeds in the share market. This move proved highly successful.

In the early 1960s J.S. Millner who had joined the Board of Australian Oil & Gas Corporation Ltd. had become interested in mining. He was greatly influenced by Professor E.A. Rudd, and invested in most of the major mining enterprises in Australia. He persuaded Dr. Pattinson and the rest of the Board that Australia was about to enter the mining boom and the company invested heavily in Western Mining Corporation Ltd., Broken Hill Pty. Co. Ltd., Broken Hill South Ltd. and Peko Wallsend Ltd. and other leading mining shares. The mining boom eventuated a few years after and these investments were very successful.

Prior to 1960 pharmacists did their training and qualifications under an apprenticeship scheme. The apprenticeship was for three years and the student attended University in the mornings during the second and third years. The rest of the time was spent with practical training in the pharmacy.

Unlike a large number of private pharmacies who took no apprentices at all, Soul Pattinson always took its full quota of apprentices and went to great lengths to train them, not only academically, but business wise as well. John Spence and Dr. Pattinson instituted a course of lectures for the company’s first year apprentices in the company’s time. This covered not only Botany Chemistry and Materia Medica but business management as well. This was of tremendous assistance to Soul Pattinson apprentices who, as a group, always did particularly well in their University education. It was widely recognised that boys and girls entering pharmacy got by far the best training through Soul Pattinson.

In 1962, the apprenticeship scheme was replaced by a full time university course, followed by one year’s practical experience in a pharmacy.

W.G. Fisher died in 1966 after 22 years on the Board and a close association with Washington H. Soul Pattinson & Co. Ltd. extending over the whole of his working life.

Hugh Dixson, grandson of Sir Hugh Dixson was invited to join the Board.

In late 1968 Soul Pattinson decided to take over Deposit & Investment Co. Ltd. which was the first finance company in Australia and in which it already had a major investment. To purchase Deposit & Investment Co. Ltd. a placement of one million shares was made through members of The Sydney Stock Exchange at $12 per share. This was not an issue to shareholders. The only share issues that Soul Pattinson had made in its history had been bonus issues of which there have been fifteen up to 1983.

In 1902 Shareholders’ funds were ?140,000. In 81 years Shareholders’ Funds have increased 280 times to $78,500,000.

In 81 years assets had grown 424 times - from ?171,000 to $145,000,000.

Mr. G.L.A. Donohoo, the General Manager of Deposit & Investment Co. Ltd., was invited to join the board in 1969.

He had resigned as a partner in Kent, Brierley & Fisher in 1964 to take up the appointment of General Manager of Deposit & Investment Co. Ltd. Like W.G. Fisher before him, he had been closely associated with Washington H. Soul Pattinson & Co. Ltd. during the whole of his working life.

Mr. S.A. Slatyer was also invited to join the board and was appointed as General Manager of the Pharmacy division of the firm. He had been the Warehouse Manager for some years.

J.S. Millner had been concerned about the vulnerability of Soul Pattinson as a takeover, realising that not only Souls but a number of other Australian companies that had been successful and conservative and built up large assets were very vulnerable to takeover. He approached a number of similar Australian companies with a view to an exchange of shares to minimise the takeover danger. W.F. Dawes, Chief Executive of Brickworks Ltd. thought likewise and had been doing the same thing. He approached Millner in 1969 and the two companies agreed to swap one million shares at $10 each. The result was that Souls owned 25% of Brickworks Ltd. and Brickworks Ltd. owned 22% of Soul Pattinson. These respective shareholdings have been increased over the years.

J.S. Millner joined the Board of Brickworks Ltd. and was appointed Deputy Chairman, and on the death of W.K. Dawes in 1981 became Chairman.

Around 1971, all the major retailers in New South Wales, under pressure from the Unions, agreed to enforce compulsory unionism. All existing staff were compelled to join a Union, as were all new staff. The staff in Soul Pattinson in all departments, shops, warehouse and factory, objected strongly to this attack on the individuals freedom of choice and the company vigorously supported them. The unions tried black bans and picketing but eventually the company’s staff, with the support of Management, won.

In the early 1970s Soul Pattinson commenced exporting its manufactured products and soon built up a thriving export trade, principally in New Guinea, Fiji, and other Pacific Islands, Singapore and Malaysia, Nigeria, Hong Kong and Malta.

In 1973 Soul Pattinson (Laboratories) Pty. Ltd. won a Commonwealth Export Award.

In 1975 a joint venture pharmaceutical manufacturing factory was established at Malacca in Malaysia with our Singapore and Malaysian Agents, Apex Pharmacy. The company was named Xepa-Soul Pattinson, Soul Pattinson and Apex each having three directors on the Board, Apex supplying the management. This venture has been very profitable and continues to grow.

The advent of the Whitlam Government in 1972 was followed shortly afterwards by a wages explosion. Soul Pattinson management quickly decided that the only way to remain in business was to run the shops as complete self-service shops with checkouts.

In 1976 Washington H. Soul Pattinson & Co. Ltd. purchased the business of J. McGloin Pty. Ltd. This old, well regarded firm had an account with every pharmacy in Australia, selling a wide range of chemist only lines. The rapid expansion of Soul Pattinson agency business necessitated larger premises for both the warehouse and factory at Kingsgrove. In 1978 a major rebuilding programme was undertaken and J. McGloin Pty. Ltd. moved from their premises at Enfield into a portion of the premises previously occupied by Soul Pattinson’s warehouse.

Commencing in the late 1960s J.S. Millner was actively investigating better and more efficient accounting systems, warehouse delivery systems and ordering systems. Most major wholesalers were visited in the United Kingdom, Europe, U.S.A and South Africa. A system was finally designed and adopted which at the time was probably the most advanced and efficient ordering system in pharmacy anywhere. The system was put into operation with the opening of the new warehouse at Kingsgrove.

In 1979 S.A. Slatyer resigned from Washington H. Soul Pattinson & Co. Ltd.

B.W. Bagley, the Manager of Soul Pattinson (Laboratories) was appointed as General Manager, Pharmacy Division and invited to join the Board.

Rapid expansion of the agency business in Queensland necessitated opening a warehouse in Brisbane in 1980.

In 1983 a new warehouse was opened in Perth to supply agents in Western Australia.

Until the early 1970s the Annual General Meeting had always been held in the boardroom of 160 Pitt Street, Sydney. The Annual Meetings were attended by a handful of shareholders, mainly the same people year after year. The atmosphere was more like a friendly social occasion than an Annual General Meeting. Year after year Annie Pattinson, Lewy’s sister, always occupied the same chair.

On one occasion there were not sufficient people to form a quorum. The meeting had to be temporarily adjourned and several city shop managers who were shareholders were asked to come and make up the numbers. In later years, due to increased attendance the venue had to be moved to outside larger premises.

At the time of the 1942 Annual General Meeting the Allies' fortunes during the war were probably at their lowest, Singapore had fallen and Japan had conquered the whole of the Far East and was menacing Australia, Tobruk had fallen, the Germans looked like breaking through the Russian defences into the Caucases. The meeting was a very gloomy affair and Mary Millner, a daughter of Lewy Pattinson and mother of J.S. Millner who was still posted as missing after the fall of Singapore, suggested they sing "God Save the King". Everybody at the meeting joined in with great gusto and they all felt much better. Mrs. Millner presented a large coloured photo of the King which she replaced with a similar one of Queen Elizabeth II on the death of King George VI.

Over the years Washington H. Soul Pattinson & Co. Ltd. has had over 40 people who worked for the company for over 50 years. At least four families - Pattinson, Spence, Rowe and Letters - have had three generations with the Company, and a large number of sons and daughters have followed on from their fathers or mothers.

Hugh married Alice FITZMAURICE [18257] [MRIN: 7335] in 1891 in Ashfield Sydney Colony of New South Wales.

53 M i. Hugh Fitzmaurice DIXSON [18258] was born in 1892 in Petersham Sydney Colony of New South Wales.

20. Emma Shaw DIXSON [17707] (Hugh (Sir)⁴, Hugh², Hugh¹) was born in 1872 in Sydney Colony of New South Wales, died on 19 Nov 1930 in Netherbury Dorset England at age 58, and was buried in Netherbury Dorset England. Another name for Emma was May.

Emma married Ronald KEEP [17688] [MRIN: 7146], son of Edward KEEP [3924] and Janet RONALD [3931], on 14 Dec 1892 in Petersham Sydney NSW Australia. Ronald was born on 26 Aug 1867 in South Yarra Melbourne Colony of Victoria and died on 15 Sep 1923 in Pembury Kent England at age 56.

21. Helen Craig DIXSON [18252] (Hugh (Sir)⁴, Hugh², Hugh¹) was born in 1874 in Sydney Colony of New South Wales and died in 1961 in Sydney NSW Australia at age 87.

Helen married Horatio Seymour EATON [42346] [MRIN: 15276] in 1897 in Petersham Sydney Colony of New South Wales. Horatio died in 1905 in St Peters Sydney NSW Australia.

55 M i. Hugh S EATON [42347] was born in 1899 in Petersham Sydney Colony of New South Wales.

23. Robert Craig DIXSON [18254] (Hugh (Sir)⁴, Hugh², Hugh¹) was born on 2 Jul 1881 and died in 1958 in Sydney NSW Australia at age 77.

General Notes: A young Australian engineer, convalescing after service in the trenches in France in 1918, began to ponder the significance of chemicals in the twentieth century. After discharge from the army, he remained in England to study at the Royal College of Science, and after graduation he engaged in research in coal tar intermediates. When John Griffith Peake returned to Australia, he had a firmly rooted ambition. He would make Australia more self-dependent in basic chemicals, and to avoid the perils which isolation and dependence on overseas supplies could impose in either economic or military crisis.

Soon after his return to Australia, Peake became associated in 1922 with Sir William Dixson and Mr. Robert Dixson, who were concerned in establishing a research laboratory at Sydney University to investigate several industrial chemical problems.

Three years later this group turned their attention to timber preservation and a small company, Timbrol Limited was formed on 4th May, 1925, to manufacture timber preservatives. The company's first registered- trade mark took the form of a seal, featuring the name "Timbrol" and.. around the circumference the descriptive words "Durable Effective Wood Preservative".

The first factory was in Sussex Lane, near the heart of Sydney, until a few years ago the company sign was still visible overcoats of paint. The preservation of canvas was a related field of interest at this stage.

Research was initiated into the isolation of coal tar chemicals. Were subtle differences in the raw materials from local coal tars when compared with overseas materials. In consequence, it was not possible to duplicate the established over-seas steps of distillation and extraction without modification. But progress was made in grappling with the problems) and; eventually patent protection was sought for the improved methods developed.

Then in 1928 the company moved its activities to the present site at Rhodes, some 10 miles from the city. Rail transport was available, and with the construction of a long jetty across the shallow foreshores of Homebush Bay, water transport was made available. This latter provision was extremely important. The coal tar oils which were byproducts of The Australian Gas Light Company's operations at Mortlake could now he cheaply and quickly transported by barge to the Rhodes site, and were pumped to a large storage tank on the shore. From this tank the oil was pumped to the stills on higher ground for fractionation and subsequent extraction processes.

The three stills were coal fired, and closely followed the established British design. They were second-hand) having been bought from the from the city Council tar depot at Wattle Street. Each was surrounded by with a massive brick setting. A boiler was associated with the layout, and the packaging of the products was carried out on the one large building adjacent - somewhat nostalgically remembered by the oldest employees as incorporating the framework of a one-time "picture show".

Robert married Eva Thelma Eleanor HOLLAND [18259] [MRIN: 7336] on 8 Apr 1922. Eva was born in 1895 in Ashfield Sydney Colony of New South W ales and died on 26 Jul 1981 in Point Piper Sydney NSW Australia at age 86.

28. Sir Hugh Robert DIXSON, KBE M.L.A. [18233] (Robert⁵, Hugh², Hugh¹) was born in 1865 in Forbes Colony of New South Wales and died in 1940 at age 75. Another name for Hugh was Denison.

Hugh married Sara Rachel Forster FOTHERINGILL [18234] [MRIN: 7330] in 1893 in Fremantle Colony of Western Australia.

30. Frederick R HIBBERD [18240] (Isabella DIXSON⁶, Hugh², Hugh¹) was born in 1871 in Sydney Colony of New South Wales and died in 1934 in Ryde Sydney NSW Australia at age 63.

Frederick married Lily L HOLLAND [42348] [MRIN: 15277] in 1901 in Sydney NSW Australia.

61 F i. Linda HIBBERD [42349] was born in 1900 in Sydney Colony of New South Wales.

Linda married Alexander F POOLE [42350] [MRIN: 15278] in 1922 in Milton NSW Australia.

62 F ii. Florence E HIBBERD [42351] was born in 1903 in Milton NSW Australia.

Florence married Henry Gabriel HAPGOOD [42352] [MRIN: 15279] in 1927 in Marrickville Sydney NSW Australia. Henry was born in 1892 in Milton Colony of New South Wales and died in 1964 in Marrickville Sydney NSW Australia at age 72.

63 F iii. Stella B HIBBERD [42353] was born in 1905 in Milton NSW Australia and died in 1911 in Newcastle NSW Australia at age 6.

37. Caroline G S DIXSON [42329] (Thomas Storie, Md¹¹, Hugh², Hugh¹) was born in 1888 in Sydney Colony of New South Wales and died about 1924 in Newtown Sydney NSW Australia about age 36.

Caroline married Spencer B YEOMANS [42354] [MRIN: 15280] in 1915 in Sydney NSW Australia.

64 M i. John Storie YEOMANS [42355] was born on 15 May 1916 in Sydney NSW Australia and died on 9 Jun 1995 at age 79.

40. Florence S ABBOTT [42332] (Mary Ann DUNCAN¹², Rachel DIXSON³, Hugh¹) was born in 1859 in Balmain Sydney Colony of New South Wales and died in 1896 in Balmain Sydney Colony of New South Wales at age 37.

Florence married Arthur WATSON [42356] [MRIN: 15281] in 1884 in Sydney Colony of New South Wales.

65 F i. Ruby O S WATSON [42357] was born in 1888 in West Maitland Colony of New South Wales.

66 M ii. Claude E T WATSON [42358] was born in 1889 in Newcastle Colony of New South Wales.

67 F iii. Mary A R WATSON [42359] was born in 1896 in Balmain Sydney Colony of New South Wales.

47. Ruby ABBOTT [42340] (Mary Ann DUNCAN¹², Rachel DIXSON³, Hugh¹) was born in 1880 in Balmain Sydney Colony of New South Wales and died in 1917 at age 37.

Ruby married Alexander L GEMMELL [42360] [MRIN: 15282] in 1900 in Balmain Sydney Colony of New South Wales.

68 M i. Alexander J GEMMELL [42361] was born in 1901 in Balmain Sydney NSW Australia and died in 1956 in Sydney NSW Australia at age 55.

69 F ii. Doris A GEMMELL [42362] was born in 1903 in Petersham Sydney NSW Australia.

48. Elizabeth Rachel CRAIG [42341] (Jane WATSON¹⁵, Rachel DIXSON³, Hugh¹) was born in 1871 in Goulburn Colony of New South Wales and died in 1934 in Newtown Sydney NSW Australia at age 63.

Elizabeth married Frederick Albert GRAHAM [42363] [MRIN: 15283] in 1893 in Goulburn Colony of New South Wales.

70 F i. Jean E GRAHAM [42364] was born in 1894 in Goulburn Colony of New South Wales.

71 M ii. Robert GRAHAM [42365] was born in 1897 in Goulburn Colony of New South Wales and died in 1971 in Burwood Sydney NSW Australia at age 74.

72 F iii. Elsie GRAHAM [42366] was born in 1899 in Goulburn Colony of New South Wales.

74 M v. Frederick Allen GRAHAM [42368] was born in 1908 in Bowning NSW Australia and died in 1974 at age 66.

Frederick married Emerald M S F ALEXANDER [42369] [MRIN: 15284] in 1929 in Bankstown Sydney NSW Australia. Emerald died in 1994.

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The Descendants of Hugh DIXSON circa 1790.

Fourth Generation